Mr. D wrote:True, but I was thinking of more of a medieval use; you know, from about AD 1100 on.

Why 1100?
Some set the date for the beginning Middle Ages at 375 (nice number) when the Huns defeated the Visigoths and made the Migration start, or at 568 when the Langobards invaded Italy which marked the end of the Migration.

Others set the date at 476 when the last Roman emperor Romulus Augustulus was deposed by Odoaker, the military leader of Rome's Germanic auxiliar troops. That's in fact the date that seems best-founded as the Roman Empire is quasi synomymical to the (late) Antiquity in Europe.

The Vikings plundered Europe since 517 when the Danish King Chlochilaichum assaulted Gallia how France still was called then. ("France" only after the Franks conquered half of Europe and Charlemagne's descendants divided this empire.) Probably more prominent and well-known is the attack on Lindisfarne in 793. Some even set the beginning Viking attacks for the begin of the Middle Ages.

In any case 1100 is way too late.

The mediaeval Republic of Venice, by the way, also built galleys.

Bye
Jojo

This is just the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put.Winston Churchill

Mr. D wrote:True, but I was thinking of more of a medieval use; you know, from about AD 1100 on.

Why 1100?Some set the date for the beginning Middle Ages at 375 (nice number) when the Huns defeated the Visigoths and made the Migration start, or at 568 when the Langobards invaded Italy which marked the end of the Migration.

Others set the date at 476 when the last Roman emperor Romulus Augustulus was deposed by Odoaker, the military leader of Rome's Germanic auxiliar troops. That's in fact the date that seems best-founded as the Roman Empire is quasi synomymical to the (late) Antiquity in Europe.

The Vikings plundered Europe since 517 when the Danish King Chlochilaichum assaulted Gallia how France still was called then. ("France" only after the Franks conquered half of Europe and Charlemagne's descendants divided this empire.) Probably more prominent and well-known is the attack on Lindisfarne in 793. Some even set the beginning Viking attacks for the begin of the Middle Ages.

In any case 1100 is way too late.

The mediaeval Republic of Venice, by the way, also built galleys.

ByeJojo

I think Mr. D really meant the High Middle Ages (the prime Castle building era), as opposed to the Early Middle Ages (formerly the Dark Ages).

Mediterranean galleys were considerably different from longships, but I'll have to wait until I have the Viking set in my hot little hands to really know how adaptable the set is.

Redwine the Ribald: Stare long enough into the abyss...
Two-Tonic Tippler: ...and you spit into it.

I split this topic because it is becomming more about real medieval life than the viking sets. Interesting discussion though. It would be cool if someone built a Venetian galley.

Others set the date at 476 when the last Roman emperor Romulus Augustulus was deposed by Odoaker, the military leader of Rome's Germanic auxiliar troops.

I like this date the best but really historians like dates too much. It is more of a period of transition. We can blame Constantine. He moved the capitol thus dooming the Western Half of the empire to conquest. Of course there are other factors such as not being able to, or wanting to, sustain/defend the gigantic empire.